Shifting can be a royal pain. It seems as though there is no way I can avoid having to pack my earthly possessions and keep lugging them from one place to the other. The number of times I have shifted you would think I would be a pro by now. I am. Sort of. But still can’t help hating it.

The first time I remember shifting when I couldn’t even talk properly. I remember thinking it was a very interesting affair as I got to ride the truck carrying our furniture. Next time it was a little less fun as I was continually asked to stay out of the way. I can’t remember when I got into the habit of shifting. I can’t even count the number of times I have shifted. End of each shifting I promised to myself ‘not again’ and a couple of years would see me piling clothes in empty cases and wrapping glassware with old newspapers.

I have given up promising as I know it as a rule that this promise too shall be broken. We desperately needed to shift to a bigger apartment as our little flat was getting cramped with two new members. It would overflow each time we had guests staying over. Apartments can be expensive in Bangkok but somehow we managed to find one which suited our means just fine. Once the place was finalized and the legalities settled we started our packing again. New packing boxes were brought in. Suitcases were emptied. Bags were filled. But even then we had half the stuff still lying around. So we decided a second trip should do the trick. But once the truck left a second time we still had an assortment of utilities lying around with me in the middle. I had no idea how to start packing again.

To make matters worse my baby wanted to be entertained all the time he wasn’t asleep. My dog wanted a cuddle every time I played with my baby coz otherwise he refused to eat. Having settled everything as soon as I pick up some stuff pack my mum calls and wants to have a chat. If shifting was difficult earlier I had no idea what difficulty meant back then. I may even have cried out of sheer frustration a couple of times.

There is another trend that I pointed out in the course of shifting. I have a habit of shifting after sundown. Never have I shifted anywhere during the day. It has always been between 5 to 10 in the evening. But this time surpassed all past experiences. At 10:30 PM the 3nd consignment of our luggage left in a van. By the time I entered our new flat for the first time with my baby and my puppy, today had become tomorrow. Once again I wanted to cry as soon as I entered as it was well past midnight and I didn’t know where to put my baby to sleep with the magnanimous mess around me. To top that, I had a curious puppy sniffing around and getting in the way, causing me to trip over every few minutes – but then again he was the least of my problems.

Somehow we managed to move around some debris (that’s exactly how everything looked at that time) and made our bed. I shut my eyes tight, all the time chanting to myself that it was all a bad dream and would go away in the morning. Well, my bad dream didn’t go away in the morning but it sure looks much better now. Don’t have a clue how we got the courage to start unpacking but we did. Now we have a place which can called pretty decent give or take a few boxes here and there which we haven’t got around to unpacking yet. Another feather to our cap. Another promise never to move. Not unless we are leaving Bangkok for good.